The Misadventures Of Lord Shen And Baby Po
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: Following the events of "Red And Green" - a sequel of the prologue part, if you will - Lady Biming leaves her humble village for a while, and leaves her young son in the care of her old friends, the peacock clan. Chapter 3: Shen has a small breakdown...
1. Chapter 1

The Misadventures Of Lord Shen And Baby Po  
><em>Chapter 1 - Little Bao Yu<em>

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"My Prince, we have company." The soothsayer; she was at the door to the arena. Her lips were pursed, and her brow furrowed in growing annoyance at being ignored for so long. This had to be the third time at least that those same words had come from her mouth. And of course, the third time she was ignored by that impertinent little chick.

Little, not so. Although a substantially smaller size than the other peafowl, his quickly toning body was far from small and weak. Weak – a little perhaps: he did still have the relapses of colds and terrible bouts of fever and all that medical fun – but he was still far from 'little.' Something he could easily clarify to anyone by a few swift kicks, and perhaps a blade through the throat.

"My Prince," his nanny gritted out; she was quickly losing patience and preparing to grab and pluck a few of those albino feathers. "I said we have company."

"So let my parents take care of it!" Shen snapped rudely, still not even turning to the elderly goat. "Today, the blacksmith in the valley finally finishes my _Dao_- I want to be here to get it!"

"I assure you, this will not take that long," the soothsayer softly huffed.

The young lord scornfully wrinkled his beak and held his head higher. He had been waiting fervently for many days for the court's blacksmith to finally complete the making of his first sword. The rhino had warned him gently that the weapon wouldn't quite reach his expectations; he was not to get the sword of his dreams until his twentieth birthday – in less than a month. Still, to Shen, a sword was a sword. Surely whatever he'd get would be better than the worth of the nursery knives he'd been working with.

"Please, Shen," the old goat said quietly. Her tone was not that of politely requesting at all; it was reaching that angry 'nanny' pitch that suggested some sort of punishment could be in order.

"Can they not tend to their guests without me?" the bird griped, throwing various little knives like arrows towards the makeshift targets his master had set out for him.

"They insist you join them," she sighed. She didn't know why, hadn't seen the guests herself, but her Lord and Lady seemed in sheer excitement, so it had to be a big deal.

Shen did nothing but grunt, and he moved to throw another blade, but a quick gloved hoof stood in his way, blocking the throw and causing the knife to bounce off his impenetrable armor.

Thundering Rhino bent down and picked up the blade – well, actually he harshly tapped the handle to it and caused it to fly into his palm; that's a master for you: they preferred to put a dramatic little tidbit on anything – and he threw it back to the peacock, who caught it with lightning reflexes.

"My lord, you have done well," the rhino smiled, bowing. "Take a break, go for a walk."

_Translation: listen to your Nana, chick._

Shen's feathers flattened as he got the message. He gave a curt bow and went to follow the old goat, but not before putting his own dramatic spin to casually replacing his blades – promptly throwing them into the fence walls, causing a few passing-by servants to shriek and hightail it out of there.

The soothsayer looked at her chick apathetically and rolled her eyes, leading him back into the palace.

The walk was tedious and seemingly endless, with Shen mixing between excitement of finally getting a sword, to his indignant rants of being pulled away from training for some stupid guests of his parents – probably some sort of merchant or the physician sporting good news of some new 'stronger' medicine he had for the young prince. (Stronger, horrible tasting, maybe.)

But what greeted the lord's eyes when he finally met up at the gates with his parents, he – well, he'd actually greatly prefer the physician.

"Aba-yiii," the butter ball babbled. No, he hadn't changed; of course it had only been a week, but still. He wasn't any less fat.

_Aw, it's you!_ The soothsayer's stern glare was the only thing that kept Shen from stepping back in disgust or uttering that repulsed phrase out loud the moment he saw the cub. It seemed the baby didn't share his disgust, completely oblivious to it in fact, as he crawled up to the lord.

Biming laughed softly. She hadn't changed either: still wearing that stupid bun and that gross old robe. Again, it had only been a week, but Shen still hoped the family had grown just a little less peasant like and more bearable to look at with his royal eyes.

"It seems he still just _loves_ you, my Lord."

"I'm eminently honored," Shen said with painfully obvious distaste, trying to ignore the fuzzy black and white ball that clung away to his legs.

The adults continued chatting, and Shen stood there in annoyance, wondering why on earth he was called away from his training for this – and trying to calmly tug his robe tassels from the cub's mouth, losing patience fast. He only caught the end of his father's sentence:

"-our son will be fine with him."

"I'll what," the lord said flatly. "I'll be fine with _who?_" The conversation went on as if he never spoke.

"-I wouldn't want to impose, my Lord. I'm not asking you-"

"-don't be ridiculous, we are offering; we owe you, you know: you have done a lot for our son, and we just love the little cub-"

Shen looked over at the infant with growing horror – the infant who was blissfully sticking flowers up his nose. Realization dawned on him, and his head snapped back to the older peafowl.

"_Father-_"

"-if you're really certain," Biming finished with a smile. "Thank you so much for this, my lord – I don't know how to repay you-"

Lord Jin smiled gently, motioning for the female panda to stand as she kowtowed.

"You have done enough for us, Lady Biming; without you our son may never have lived to see this day."

Live to see _what _day, the lord wondered. The day when he was involuntarily tied down to the ground by a babbling and drooling gross panda baby – he, Lord Shen! - Forced to submit to the cub and follow his own daily routine by the cub's regiments?

No way, not gonna happen.

"_Father-!_" Shen nearly wailed. His father silenced him with a stern glare, turning back to Biming and beaming once more. The female panda had pried her cub off Shen's foot and was now cuddling him with a 'good-bye, mommy loves you.'

"I never did get a chance to tell you his name," she said sheepishly. "Well- you ran out of the village too quickly-"

"Bandits," Jin explained, still annoyed by the spontaneous interruption by a servant elk that came to alert him of the city's disturbance. Of course if he wished to be so gaily, 'a king's gotta do what a king's gotta do.'

"The joys of being a king," Biming said wryly. Lord Jin nodded. "Well, my little angel here is named 'Bao Yu'."

_'Precious Jade'_, Shen thought sourly as he looked into the infant cub's luminous green eyes with contempt. _How apt._

Biming left, shooting sad hesitant glances back to her now crying cub as she went down the steps. The cub stopped crying briefly when his mother stopped several times to blow a few kisses, but was crying anew and harshly as her head and hair bun was soon out of sight. A passing servant sheep hurriedly scurried forward and scooped the cub, while Shen frantically followed his parents.

"Mother, father, are you MAD?" he shouted; they spun around and frowned at him. He bit down on his tongue and lowered his crown feathers. "..With all due respect."

Lady Ah-Lam's scowl fell and she came forward and smoothed her chick's feathers, which did nothing to calm his foul mood.

The young lord quickly ducked back from her motherly wings with a quiet glower.

"Mother, why must it fall to us to take care of the bra -ahhhh- delightful..cub? Doesn't that-" -he tried to find a word to describe her and not to spit it- "-nice _woman _have fat panda friends of her own to help?" he snapped. Okay, forget patience and politeness.

His father glared on his lapse of respect, and it took everything the younger peafowl had not to glare back.

"She has plenty of friends that could help, but we offered – BECAUSE," he continued in a louder tone when his son was about to speak. "We are in her debt: she has done a lot for us, and for you, especially."

"Where is she going, anyways," Shen grumbled. His tone really not indicating he remotely cared.

"To _Ming Hoa_ for their annual festival; they gather flowers from all around the world and she goes once a year to gather some for medical use." He smiled. "I bet one of those flowers are what she used for some of your medicines when you were a chick."

Shen darkened once more.

"Now dear, relax," His mother smiled so calmly, as if having a baby panda cub dragging his tubby body around their kitchen was completely normal. "The servants are here to tend to little Bao Yu; I'll have someone with the child every hour of the clock. You won't really have to do anything."

The 'really' didn't seem good enough for Shen as his glare deepened, eyes trailing over the cub who was busy climbing into a bucket of creamed radishes. Thankfully, a servant grabbed him in time. This kid – no way. He was not spending even a moment with that child; those fifteen minutes in the brat's village was enough. He was never – he didn't even want to _look_ at that cub, or anything with the color _white _in it for that matter!

He hated white, and everyone that knew him was aware. Nothing white was allowed in his presence; any gift he received with the color white was instantly cast aside, or thrown back to the giver. He owned no white clothes; no white bedding; no white walls – nothing. The only thing white that he was forced to look at every day and forced to be in his presence...was him.

He did like gray though; he glanced down at his gray robe. Despite its many traditional meanings, gray was gloomy to him. It suited him.

"I refuse to have anything to do with the cub," Shen said venomously. His eyes flashed, and the servants immediately either busied themselves and averted their eyes, or scurried off. Only his parents remained immune to the mutiny.

"Son," Lord Jin began, choosing his words carefully. "Lady Biming is an old family friend, and she has helped with your.." He _really_ had to word this carefully. "..condition." Judging by the hateful flame in his son's eye, he didn't word it well enough.

"Some of her medicines may have saved your life – remember in those times when you were very sick?"

The hateful flame burned brighter. Why did his father have to remind him of that? Of course he didn't forget; he never forgot the moments he was sick in every waking minute of his life. The weakened lungs from the years of infections were a clear brutal reminder of it.

"I remember," he struggled not to spit out in rage. "What does that have to do with-"

"Don't you think you owe her a bit? I mean – we're not saying you have to spend all day with the child, or even an hour, but it'd be a fine way to repay your debt a bit. Besides, little Bao Yu seems to like you _so _much-"

Shen had enough. His eyes were full of poison; he didn't bother respectfully bowing or even saying a courteous good-bye to his parents as he whirled from the kitchen, nearly stumbling on the brat as he stormed down the halls.

The soothsayer caught up quickly. She was the only one that was well experienced with the lord's adult tantrums, and knew the precise moment when he'd get impatient; lose his patience; and finally crack and storm out of there. Oddly enough, his parents looked surprised by his random leaves every time it happened. One would think they'd start to expect this too.

"That went well," she tried softly, silenced by her chick's harsh glare. She sighed, trained her eyes on her cane and continued to walk with him; he was finally walking calmly, no longer storming. His fits often drained him quickly, only further heightening his Nana's worry for his health.

"'Went well'," Shen scoffed with a bitter sneer. "It went only as well as all recent conversations with my parents seem to go.."

"If you would just control your temper," she said carefully-

"-if they would just control their stupidity!" he shot back. "The honorable peafowl clan are _not _babysitters!" he hissed.

"Darling, you don't even have to worry about the child," his nanny smiled, trying to smooth his feathers. She was about the only one that he sometimes let get away with that.

"I have to worry about hearing the brat cry all night," Shen muttered, stepping up the age-worn porcalaine steps and into his and his Nana's quarters.

The soothsayer immediately went to prepare some of her chick's favorite tea. If anything could calm him, turn him into a state of bliss and make him more bearable to talk to, it was his sweet tea.

"Our chambers are far from where the baby will be residing," the old goat reassured, pouring various spoonfuls of saccharine into a boiling pot. "Besides," she decided to add with a smirk, "it's not like you were a peach when you were a baby, either." She punctuated her sentence with poking the lord in the belly.

"Oh, how dare you," Shen frowned, fluffing his wings in offence and straightening his robe where her hoof made a dent. "I'm sure I was perfectly well behaved as a child."

The soothsayer made no attempt to hold in her laughs, grabbing the table for leverage. Right when the fit seemed to have calmed down and Shen opened his beak once more to speak – the soothsayer loudly guffawed once more.

Shen felt his face grow hot with embarrassment, something he hated: with his albinoness, his blushes were deeper than any other peafowl or any other person in general. He hid his face, muttered a 'yeah, yeah – I get it', and dourly trudged from the room to see if the blacksmith had come by with his _Dao_ yet.

He made it a point to ignore little Bao Yu as he strode dignified down the hall. From the corner of his eye, he saw the tiny cub look up at him and beam – and drool, and babble and wave to him. The peacock sneered and held his head higher, walking past the little butter ball, his tail feathers trailing behind.

"Bir'!" the cub exclaimed joyfully – to many it would sound like 'bird' – and he pounced on the feathers. The bird was halted immediately, not expecting this sudden move, he barely saw the ground rushing up to his face as he hit it. Dazed, he was afraid to look back.

Sweet little Bao Yu was gleefully perched on his back now, gnawing at the sash to his robe once more.

Shen just laid there, rolling his tongue inside his mouth in annoyance and closing his eyes as he felt the baby's saliva seep through his robe, chilling him.

It was not going to be a fun day.

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_(Little Bao Yu is obviously Po. The name means "precious jade", while Biming means "clarity of jade". You'd have to read my fic "Red and Green" to understand most of this._

_It's really just a small side fic since "Redeeming Light" is sadly nearly done, and I wanted to do some more with younger Lord Shen and baby Po._

_Bear in mind, this fic isn't all about cuteness._

_(And I thought the fact that Shen hates the color white would seem in his character. _)

_Dao - a traditional Chinese sword; it looks like a butter knife (which may be a running joke in this little fic)_

_Ming Hoa - 'shining, beautiful' (I think)_


	2. Chapter 2

The Misadventures Of Lord Shen And Baby Po  
>Chapter 2 - <em>Vengeance Is Sweet<em>

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"What?" Shen demanded. His voice was as sharp as the knife he was carrying, and the two servant elk stepped back. One, Shen noted to his amusement, tried to scurry off, but the brasher one grabbed his shirt tail and pulled him back. They both forced themselves to face their Lord.

"Master Thundering Rhino sent us to tell you, sir," the elk said boldly. His head was high, trying to keep composure, but his voice couldn't possibly waver anymore. Now and then, an eye rolled back towards the smaller elk servant shrunken against him – and quickly kept his eyes focused on his Lord.

"H-he said the blacksmith can't make it today-"

"_Why?_" Shen snarled. This conversation wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the servants had picked the most perfect time to come to their Lord: in the midst of his knife training. He hadn't bothered dropping the blade when he turned to them, and did or didn't realize he was holding it threateningly as he loomed closer.

"A-apparently Master Thundering Rhino said that he fell back into a well...a...and he's kinda bed ridden; the physician is there with him now – he-"

"I do not care about that blasted doctor or the well being of that stupid blacksmith _sheep!_" the young lord hissed, feathers folding to his sides in a dignified and self centered way.

"I merely want my Dao – I was scheduled to receive it today!"

The servant elk sighed and lowered his gaze; it was hard.

"The furthest my knowledge goes, My Prince, is that the blacksmith is injured and he cannot make it. Now please, direct your further inquiries to Master Rhino: he knows more about this than I!"

He and the smaller servant backed up a bit, watching as Shen turned his head to ponder on this. At last, he was able to release his breath in relief when his Lord growled a soft 'dismissed.' And there wasn't a time increment small enough to describe how fast the poor smaller elk bolted from the spot he was standing.

"I miss when he was a kid," the elk muttered to his friend once they had ducked behind a building and out of the young peacock's sight. "He was so much sweeter then; at one point, a joy to be around."

"No kidding."

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"Now, My Prince-"

"That idiot sheep – falling into a well? A WELL? How on earth – I thought you said the blacksmith was intelligent! Should I even trust him with my sword – I don't think I should-"

"My Prince." Now Thundering Rhino's voice was smirking and teasing. He rested his hooves on his hammer and leaned slightly over the back of the temperamental peacock's shoulder.

"I seem to recall a young peacock chick that chased his ball into a well when he was five years old, and too stubborn to ask his parents for help."

Shen's head shot up at that; he flushed. Oh, he remembered: it hadn't been a pleasant day; Nana had accidentally let an unintentionally hurtful comment slip of him being weaker than the other peacocks – she hadn't meant it, he knew – but it still had hurt. When he'd gone to his parents' gardens to play near the well, his ball flew in it. He should've told his parents about his ball, he knew that, but the comment from his nanny rang in his head.

Eventually, his parents found him, and they summoned Master Thundering Rhino. It was about the first time Shen had actually seen the great rhino for the first time, minus a few times he peeked into the courtyard to watch him spar. He lowered his hammer, and Shen had been afraid to grab it at first. (Who wouldn't be: the size of that thing – it could flatten a mount of bricks!) He had finally grabbed it after the rhino's gentle coaxing and hopped right into the soothsayer's arms, where she tenderly dabbed his body and tears dry with a towel.

Thundering Rhino had spoken in hushed tones with Lord Jin and Lady Ah-Lam. The bucket and rope had broken – it was odd – it shouldn't have broken, not with his weight; it was his strength when he hurled himself into the well; his strength that apparently deemed him worthy enough to train under the apprenticeship of Master Thundering Rhino.

The rhino master's smirk widened, noting Shen's considerably redder face.

"That was...I was a child then!" Shen protested weakly, quickly averting his eyes from his master's embarrassingly wide smirk. "This blacksmith is an adult, isn't he? He should be smarter than that.."

Thundering Rhino chortled in amusement and smirked again.

"I'm going to see him tomorrow – come and you can ask him."

Shen nodded, grumbling various things that were most likely cruel and pointless insults on the stupid blacksmith as he dug out some knives and positioned himself in front of the target.

The rhino turned and walked back to him. Shen incorrectly guessed he'd randomly be thrown off balance a bit as he'd probably kick his leg into the 'proper position'. (Why'd there have to be a proper position for everything, like throwing knives?) But the rhino came and stood in front of him. Shen lowered his knife.

"Now listen to me, My Prince. I know you're very angry you haven't gotten your sword yet, and you're impatient to get it, but I want you to be especially respectful to Pu, and no smart remarks about the 'well' thing. Do you understand me?" he asked sternly. "Pu tends to freak over small things like this, and he gets embarrassed easily."

He stepped back, starting to walk the other direction as Shen began throwing his knives as he listened.

"I remember that one time – oh we were all laughing. He fell into a merchant's cart and was full of squashed tomatoes." The rhino laughed.

Shen nodded and picked up one of his knives. There was one thing he was not able to keep silent about:

"His name is Pu?"

"Yes."

"...Pu."

"...Yes."

"...Okay then." He picked up his knives and began throwing them again.

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"Wow, the old rhino was actually generous enough to give you the afternoon off?" Xun smirked; he and Shen were in one of the palace's court yards – the ones un-occupied: the two tended to act un-prince and un-guard like when they were together, casual sparring usually taking a turn into childish wars and contests (mud fights if there was mud; splash fights if they get too close to the spring), and it wasn't something that either of them wished to show. (But boys will be boys, and childhood friends at that; they were allowed to act that way with each other, weren't they?)

"Well, I wouldn't really say it's 'the afternoon off'", the prince chuckled, biting into a plum. "I made a solemn promise and – he made me give my word that I'd do a bit of training."

"I guess that's where I come in," the wolf grinned. He brushed some of the plum juice off on his pants and took a stance; Shen did the same.

"At least I have you to get away from that old rhino. He kept going on about stories of him and the blacksmith of when they were younger." He dodged a punch thrown by the wolf and landed a hard kick of his own.

Xun tumbled back and groaned – and rubbed at his face, glaring and then smirking when the peacock laughed as plums began to pummel him. Yep, he had crashed into the tree. He looked up and another plum bopped him. Shen was nearly on the ground and laughing harder.

Boss smirked and grabbed an armful of plums and he lunged at the peacock.

Shen gave an indignant squawk as the wolf tackled him and tried to push him into the ground, but he fiercely pushed back, grunting and trying to keep himself from being pinned helplessly in the grass. He shrieked as the wolf squirted some plum juice into his face.

"Why you filthy mongrel-!" The peacock cried out again as the plum was smeared across his beak.

"You always did want your feathers colored, Shen!" Xun teased, grinning at Shen's visibly purple-plum-stained feathers, and Shen's murderous glower.

"I'll kill you – I swear it-"

They were both cut off, pausing their childish grappling when they looked up and saw the fat chubby yin-yang mass blissfully sitting there in the grass. He smiled as he spotted the very familiar albino peacock, and began dragging his flabby body down the hill.

Xun snorted, loosening his grip on the young lord and standing up.

"Who's the black and white butter ball?"

The peacock grimaced as little Bao Yu gleefully rolled down the hill like a big fleshy fat ball that landed at his feet, grabbed his toes and squealed up at the lord.

"I think he likes you, Shen," Xun snickered, watching in amusement as Shen took a step away from the tubby cub, and Bao Yu followed; Shen moved again and so did Bao Yu. Eventually, the two were just walking in a stubborn circle until the cub finally got dizzy. (Shen didn't; he was rather accustomed to feeling weak and wobbly and dizzy anyways.)

"Yeah, I realize the brat likes me," Shen muttered. "I have no idea why, or what more," he turned angrily to the cub, "what he's DOING out here! Mother and Father said I don't have to worry about the kid being in my presence. I beg to differ."

The panda cub rocked back and forth on his jelly bum and giggled, he emulated the disgusted expression on Shen's face, stuck his tongue out and grinned, and Xun laughed.

"Wow, he's cute," the Boss smirked.

"Cute -that disgusting fat female panda's baby – CUTE? Xun, a cockroach is cuter than that miserable ball of fat and drool." He firmly kicked the panda baby onto his back, then nudging him with a toe and watching him roll down a small hill, out of sight.

"Now, can we get back to training, please?" A kick got him in the stomach before he could say another word. The peacock smirked and gleefully lunged at his childhood friend, but Xun backed up a bit, ears low and nervous.

Shen moved to kick, smirking. He had Xun right where he wanted him, against the tree, helpless; there was no way he could get away from him now. The wolf's eyes widened when he saw the young lord leap for him – and suddenly Shen seemed to double over a bit.

The wolf lowered an eyebrow and straightened, seeing that he wasn't going to be pounced on anytime soon, but he looked just as confused as Shen.

The peacock's back arched a bit when the unmistakable sensation of something furry brushed against it. Was it a bug? Oh gods, it better not be! He was not good with bugs: he remembered only a week ago, femininely shrieking and bolting from his chambers when he caught sight of a spider's gleaming eye from the bottom of his nest. He didn't know – it looked so huge, and those eyes so scary in the moonlight. The soothsayer had laughed uncontrollably as she killed it. Such a strong and threatening mighty peacock, but show a bug to him and forget about it!

"I don't think so, Shen. A bug isn't that-" And Xun trailed off, blinking as he surveyed the scene and knew what was responsible for the lord's distress.

Shen shrieked as the intruding whatever brushed against his side this time; oh gods, a bug – a bug- kill it-kill it-

"Uh, Shen?" Xun's tone was undeniably amused.

Little Bao Yu – unbeknownst to Shen, yet known to Xun who was looking at the giant bulge where the lord's stomach was – was blissfully attached to Shen's bare stomach, babbling and looking around at his darker and rather gray surroundings. He'd climbed up his Baba's robe before; it was so cool and a greener color and it was fun; he liked nibbling his father's stomach. It felt smushy in his developing teeth – accustomed to milk and soft foods. Ou, what was this? White belly – white belly – looks tasty-

"YAH!" The peacock let out an indignant squeal as he felt those milk teeth gently gnaw at his belly, little adorable grunting noises sounding from under the thick fabric. Those little teeth and belly clinging paws were absolutely unbearable; only his Nana and that insubordinate wolf had the audacity to humiliate him this way: he and Xun having had their many brief bouts of tickling since they were children and sometimes if the wolf had the gal to do that in training. And with Nana, well...that spoke for itself.

"Aahhhh – get him OUT!" he shrieked, hopping and doing a little dance to try and alleviate some of the torturous feelings, or at least get his mind off it. The baby nibbled faster and laughed with the additive fun of the spinning; Shen's loud involuntary laughs muddling in with the cub's.

"Oh gods, get him out – it tickles – it tickles!" He spun more; Bao Yu could be heard shrieking with laughter, his head going back in pure joy; he climbed further up Shen's stomach and the lord squealed and howled with infectious laughter: as Xun was now on his back.

Finally, Shen looked down into his robe. Bao Yu babbled joyously and climbed up the neck hole to meet him. The peacock blinked; Xun howled laughter into the grass.

"Gods, tough little brat, aren't you?" the peacock hissed, roughly holding the baby by the scruff. Bao Yu just babbled and blew an innocent raspberry into his face, electing a louder laughing howl from Xun. He just rolled his eyes and plopped the cub on the grass. His baby fat notably jiggling as he did so.

"That...was hilarious," Xun snickered out. "He is a tough little thing – strong too; he'd be good in Kung Fu."

"Do you REALLY see that fatty drooling stuffs-flowers-up-his-nose-baby as a Kung Fu warrior?"

"As I gleefully recall, there was a time when nobody thought you'd amount to anything in Kung Fu, and look at how you've proved them wrong." He could tell the lord wasn't sure whether or not to be offended or take that as a deep compliment.

"Everyone but that old pig – I bet he still thinks I'm nothing – that I'd never amount to anything worthy, despite the fact that I'll be ruling this province eventually, filling my father's shoes – talons, if you will-"

"You know that stupid swine is the devil himself," Xun remarked.

'That stupid swine' was Peng Hu: a merchant in the city and one the two companions unfortunately knew well. He didn't seem to care that Shen was his prince, and showed no proper etiquette or honor in the slightest amount when he saw the prince; he'd merely snort (a disrespectful gesture coming from a pig), or turn his snout up in disdain, and speak snappily when forced to converse with his liege.

In a way, the boys had been thrilled to have someone that despised them so: all children needed to have a target to pick on, bully, and prank at that young age – especially boys. A few of their pranks had landed them in very sore situations with their families, and though they'd been forced to apologize, they'd always be pleased.

But Shen always had one nefarious plot in his mind that he had never set motion to and only fantasized about it. He was a prince – this was un-princely – but gods, wasn't his job to also punish criminals that dishonored he and his family?

He smirked.

"Come with me, Xun."

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"How is this supposed to work exactly?" the wolf whispered to the peacock from behind a hidden rickshaw in the shadows. They were in the city; it was bustling as usual, with villagers that would pass by and many gasp and bow to their prince, though none asked what he was doing crouched behind a rickshaw, but then, you don't question your future lord.

"It'll be easy, Xun, don't worry," Shen assured breezily. "I keep an eye on this city and my father takes me down here often to show me around – the roots of where we came from, get to know the villagers; how to protect if an impending bandit pack strikes-"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know precisely when that detestable swine closes shop and what rickshaw he takes to get home: it's always the one-" he pointed, "-right over there near the wall. See? It has a crack up the middle."

"So what do you plan on doing?"

"We're going to-"

"_We're?_"

"Yes! We are a team, always have been!"

"Yeah, but-"

"We're going to loosen the wheels on that rickshaw to the point where it's nearly hanging off that peasant cart!"

Xun looked wary.

"That could injure the driver too."

"No – the driver will be fine: we only loosen the back wheels, so when they fall they'll drag the back of the cart. More or less, Hu will be terrified and screaming bloody murder as he's dragged over the ground and feel the full brunt of the pain too – he'll probably fly off." He smirked.

Boss looked intensely apprehensive with this plan; it had so many possible flaws; so much possible danger, maybe even death? No, that was going too far, but still... This wasn't a very good-

"Go, go!" Shen hissed, and the wolf found himself being shoved forward fiercely – so fierce he fell into the street and under an antelope's foot. Flushing and heart beating faster, he ducked behind their destination rickshaw and waited for the driver to turn away, before setting to work with the screws and his nails.

Shen was exceptionally faster – which annoyed Xun – as he fevrently worked without rest, shoving his talon into the wheel and expertly twisting the little bolts until they barely teetered on the edge of the hole. He grew annoyed with the wolf's pace and shoved him away with a leg, before unbolting the rest of the back wheels himself.

Finally, the two skittered behind a different rickshaw and observed the scene with gleeful grins – though Xun's notably feigned – as they sat back to watch, ducking behind the old cart when they saw their faithful pig making his way over to the rickshaw.

-two children were with him – oh gods, oh gods, this wasn't supposed to happen; why didn't Shen think – he _knew_ that passengers weren't entitled to a ride all by themselves, others usually joined-

"Xun, stop them!"

The wolf got on all fours, bolting desperately down the street towards the crippled rickshaw. No, no – he wasn't fast enough; the rickshaw was gone now, down the hill somewhere, and the wolf was horrified to hear screams, and he heard the screech as the wood dragged over the earth; he could make out the distant faces: a horrified pig finding himself in the middle of a two-way hug as the bunny children clung to him in terror.

"Xun-!" Shen used a merchant's cart to climb up a house and gain altitude as he leaped and glided through the air, picking up speed from the wind and desperate flapping, hoping he wasn't too late. This was a horrible plan, a horrible one; why didn't he_ ever_ think before he-

There was a splash and the rickshaw was gone for a moment. Shen and Xun's heart constricted as they waited for the passengers to arise, and they did, spluttering and gasping and shocked. The driver frantically demanding if everyone was alright and looking over his rickshaw to see what had happened; it was in perfect condition despite the scratch. He saw the loosened bolts; he saw the loosened bolts and his wet head snapped upwards and over to Xun and Shen. The kids and Hu did the same.

Shen bit his lip and took a step back with the wolf – and he bumped into the soothsayer.

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The lecture had been long, lasting for nearly an hour, and Shen hadn't even endured his Nana's yet: it was his father, screaming at him for his disobedience and his un-prince-like behavior, going on about how his behavior did not represent that as either a _siang shen_ or a future lord and how ashamed he was-

_Right, father, what else is new?_ Shen thought with a sneer.

-and of how stupid he had been, and how irresponsible and outrageous and inconcievable and appalling and – etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Ultimately after chewing out his son's ear with his mother getting a word in here and there, Lord Jin dismissed the peacock and let it fall to the soothsayer, as usual, as how to handle him.

Shen returned to their quarters with the old goat, his head hurt plenty from all the screams – and he still had Nana's tongue lashing to face!

He decided to speak before her.

"I only intended on giving that miserable cretin what he deserved," the lord said calmly. "I had no idea that kids would join be joining him! If I knew – I would never-"

"Save it, Shen." His nanny did not yell or even whisper in a way that made him cringe, but this was still a tone that had his blood freeze instantly.

The peacock bit down on his tongue. He hadn't meant it – it was a joke. Supposed to be; meant to be funny, or strip that stupid pig of his dignity and knock him off his pillar of greatness; he thought he was so much better than him, and Shen and Xun knew he wasn't-

"...I feel no remorse," he finally said coldly. He noted how his Nana's ears inadvertently flattened more (though it was hard to tell, they were always down.) "I do on some level – for the children, I guess; I never meant for them to get caught up in this. It was just a small flaw in the prank, you see."

"A _prank_?" she demanded quietly. For her chick to sit here and tell her he had no remorse when he could have caused injury, could have caused death had the water not been there, and a wall instead-

"Yes, a prank. We figured we'd give that stupid pig what he deserved; what he's earned.." The poisonous tone made his nanny shudder, but she tried not to show it.

"He did not deserve that!" she finally yelled. "We have been through this, Sheng Li-" his feathers flattered bitterly at the full name- "you told me you would stop these childish torments on that poor merchant!"

"Poor," Shen sneered. "And you feel sorry for him? You agree with what he says of us – I don't mean what he says of us now – gods, we've given him every reason to curse us," the peacock smirked. "I mean all he did when we hadn't laid a finger on him, or even spoken a word; he's just naturally hateful – he deserves no respect – he never gave any to us-"

"Respect must be _earned_, Shen," the soothsayer spoke through clenched teeth.

The young peacock gave a haughty smirk as he began to nonchalantly walk back to his chambers.

"Royalty do not need to _earn_ their respect; commoners like _you_ do." He took a step, and felt a pressuring on his backside – his train being yanked – he cried out and felt himself being bent awkwardly over something, and then felt a terrible burning sting in his hindquarters that made him squawk, and then spit in rage when he realized what she was doing.

"Why you impertinent brat – how _dare_ you!"

He squirmed and hissed as she landed a countless number of stinging blows before he finally managed to roll himself off her knee and backed up, climbing to his feet and nursing his wounded pride. He swallowed a lump and the salty water threatening his eyes before he spoke.

"You know he has wronged me!" His voice was already starting to rise in anger. "You always _knew!_From the day he wrinkled his disgusting swiney snout up at me in – me – his prince! And insulting Xun too, none the less! And yet – and yet you seriously don't approve of this or anything else we've done?"

The soothsayer was breathing funny as she studied his face.

"You know he deserved it – now and all the other times! No body-" His voice dipped to a low and eerie whisper; it bothered the old goat greatly. "-gets away with wronging me.." He whirled on her, and the door slammed.

The soothsayer just stood there, breathing hard ragged breaths as she numbly moved to the closet to replace the switch.

_Nobody gets away with wronging me..._ It kept echoing in her head, chilling her. It wasn't the words he said, no, anyone could say that and it could easily be taken as a joke or an idle threat-

-but that tone-

-that tone wasn't right, and as the soothsayer thought back, she realized how violent Shen had become in his revenges. The at first only a snide remark about Hu, morphing to something like drawing faces on his vegetables or gluing his cart to the ground -and now... and now he was loosening rickshaws for the desire to see Hu humiliated – hurt – killed?

She sat back shakily in the chair and wondered how much worse his revenges were going to get.

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_Lots of references here from "Redeeming Light" -such as Hu and his meanness. See chapter 7 I believe for the full story of when five year old Shen and Xun loaded Hu's carts with frogs. XD_

_And I giggled at how Shen feels for Thundering Rhino's particular positions on throwing a knife, given how he is with Kurisu when they trained in Dao-ming _

_And i know this chapter had little of Po, but the next one is focused mainly on Shen and him and it's very emotional._

_Also, let me know of any spelling mistakes: it was six when I posted this)_


	3. Chapter 3

The Misadventures Of Lord Shen And Baby Po  
>Chapter 3 - <em>Locked Up<em>

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"Now, remember what I said, My Prince-"

"Be especially respectful and calm and courteous and remember my etiquette lessons, and-"

"Okay, fine, you get it." The rhino chuckled slightly.

"I do have one question though."

"Shoot."

"What in the god's name is that disgusting fur ball doing coming with us?"

That 'disgusting fur ball' was eagerly perched on the master's shoulder, his chubby black legs dangling over as he babbled and looked wide eyed at his surroundings. He had never been to the city before; he'd been outside many times in his village, but the sights that met his eyes were streams and quaint little houses and lots and lots of bamboo. The city was different: it was full of much color that his infant eyes adored at this age. He watched the citizens bustle about their every day chores, bagging vegetables that he SO wanted – and made that known by reaching towards a vendor's cart-

-just to have the swine – bruised and sore looking – to flash him a vehement glare.

The cub whimpered and drew back his paw a bit, tears filling his eyes. Shen glanced back, about to snap at the stupid baby as to what was wrong – and his eye caught Hu's. He hissed and began to storm up to that disrespectful pig, and his master grabbed him, yanking him back.

"I don't think so," Thundering Rhino began sternly. "Don't you think you got yourself into enough trouble over that pig?"

Shen's rage simmered instantly, giving off to embarrassment. Oh gods, he knew..?

"Yes, I do," the rhino clarified, like he could read his mind. (Probably could, even though that was only supposed to be Nana's forte.)

"I heard about what happened last night too-"

Shen groaned.

"-and I don't think you want another repeat of that either," he smirked, which only grew wider when the young peacock bowed his head to hide a hot flush that covered it. "You're lucky though: I asked the soothsayer if she thought you warranted further punishment from me, and she said no."

The young lord let out a long sigh of relief. Thank the gods; there was no way he'd be able to take lugging sacks of rice or running two hundred or more laps around the palace – or whatever else his master could cook up – not today.

"But I will tell you," the rhino master said seriously, stepping in front of him and making the bird halt; "that I am to closely monitor your behavior today and report it all to the soothsayer – orders from her and your parents, of course."

Shen flushed with further embarrassment and growing anger. _Where_ was the justice in all this?

"Raidon!" a warm voice greeted (Thundering Rhino _did_ say that the blacksmith was his childhood friend, perhaps he had been given the rights to call him by his real name), and the sheep stepped out of the small cottage. Shen held back a smirk; yep, you could tell some sort of catastrophic event had happened to the poor blacksmith: he was black and blue and on crutches.

"Well got you good," the bold rhino grinned, and the sheep buried his face in the doorway, feigning a grin to go along.

"You said no smart remarks," Shen reminded tersely.

"That doesn't apply to me; I've known him since he was four."

And the sheep immediately turned to his prince and bowed; Shen smirked as he whined in pain as he did so, but a commoner must always bow to their royalty – and future lord.

"Oh, My Prince, it is an honor! You've been to the blacksmith before, right? I don't recall having met – oh right, my father Pi worked here at the time."

"Pu and Pi," Shen muttered softly, then he snickered, following the duo inside. "What next, 'Pu-pi?'" He winced and shot a glare when Thundering Rhino subtly bopped him on the head.

"You're here for your _Dao_, right? I know you've been waiting long – I'm so sorry; that stupid well accident - I swear, it'd be done sooner if I hadn't had that injury."

Shen looked at his turned back coldly. Well fall, so what? Like a broken leg could hinder his skills and the hooves he needed to carve and make the sword – and for his prince all the more; there was no excuse for lateness when it came to meeting your lord's request, _none-_

But Shen caught his master's warning glare and forced a polite 'it's fine – don't worry about it.'

It seemed the sheep still had a bit of work to do on it: polishing and sharpening, nothing that would take too long thank the gods. As one hoof hastily began to rub a polishing mixture on the tip of the blade (that he kept from their sight until the big reveal), another one pushed a basket of melon buns toward him and his master, and he told them to sit down and wait.

Shen stood as he quietly nibbled his bun; he couldn't sit very well yet (an embarrassing detail he rather preferred to keep to himself.)

The blacksmith finally emerged after several minutes of clanging and scraping and scrubbing. The sword in his hooves was blanketed with a beige sheet. He stepped up slowly, and Shen couldn't tell if this was to irritate him further or make the grand revealing even more spectacular. Finally, the sheep reached his prince's feet and kowtowed, holding the concealed sword flat out and blanketed over his hooves.

Shen felt a sense of pride swell deep in him; he felt like a knight in one of those old prophecies his nanny had told him of – that were about to accept their honored sword for the big battle. Eagerly, he whisked the blanket off, and-

"...It's a butter knife," he said blankly.

"_Shen,_" his master sharply began.

"-Peace, Raidon," Pu cut in, "as I recall, a certain young rhino wasn't exceptionally delighted with _his_ Dao at this age."

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_He was fifteen at the time, eagerly running ahead of his master, now and then tugging on the peacock lord's wing, constantly needing to be reminded not to run ahead; 'we have plenty of time', Lord Jin told him, and eventually he and his train caught up to the young pupil._

_"Here for your Dao, right?" Pu eagerly asked him, instantly locking the bigger rhino into a playful headlock. "Baba is nearly done with it; I haven't seen it yet, he won't let me look."_

_"Boys," Lord Jin began, and the teens stopped grappling. "I think Pi is almost finished with it, Raidon – go see, and tell me if you like it."_

_The master-to-be didn't need to be told twice, eyes alight with a childish sparkle as he ran and nearly bumped into the elder ram when he came forward, the sword blanketed. (It seemed that was a Kuang tradition.)_

_"Oh gods, I'm so excited for this!" The rhino was practically hopping, and Lord Jin had to sternly remind him of his manners countless times, futile to his pupils un-curbed excitement. He just about tore the blanket off the weapon, and his face immediately fell._

_"It...it looks.." The young rhino took the long sword and turned it over a few times in his hooves, his excitement quickly beginning to drop to the pit of his stomach with his heart as he surveyed his new weapon._

_Pu was on the ground, rolling back and forth grabbing his hooves and laughing._

_"Oh, nice sword – what are you gonna do, BUTTER your enemies to death? Ow!" His father roughly rapped him on the head, and turned to the silent rhino with an encouraging smile._

_"It's very sharp," Pi told him, hoping that with every good fact about the sword, Raidon's spirits would lift a bit more. "And – and their curve is very effective when you thrust it, and-"_

_Lord Jin looked expectantly at his student, and the rhino gave him a desperate look,_

_but it's a butter knife!_

_His master's glare deepened and the boy sighed, begrudgingly muttering a thank you to the blacksmith._

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Pu finished his story, pleased to see the changed expressions on everyone's faces; Shen looked beyond amused, Thundering Rhino looked beyond _horrified_, and even little Bao Yu looked delighted.

The rhino closed his eyes and looked up to the heavens.

"Oh, dear gods," he moaned.

Hastily, Shen stuffed an entire melon bun into his mouth to keep the loud laugh from slipping out. He snickered from behind the dessert when Bao Yu giggled.

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"You're wanted again at the door, My Prince," his nanny told him. She rolled her eyes when he let out a long suffering groan and rolled his own eyes so heavily that she was afraid his pupils would fall out the side of his sockets.

"I swear to the gods, if that's Biming here to drop off another annoying panda baby, I will _not _be very pleased."

Said panda baby eagerly perched at the side of the courtyard; Shen could not get him to leave, and it was honestly easier to attempt to break in his new _Dao_ sword listening to blissful little babbles, then it was listening to loud annoying screaming baby wails as he kept trying to push him to the door. (Gibberish didn't hinder his concentration as much as screams did, understandably.)

"No," the soothsayer began very tightly, as stiff as a board. "It – it's the physician."

Immediately, Shen faltered in his steps; he dropped the sword and paled – if that was even physically possible. Already, he was breathing a bit heavy now, and didn't calm under his nanny's gentle gaze.

"Come, darling." She grabbed his wing and smoothed a hoof tenderly over its feathery surface. "Let's see what he wants, get it over with, and I'll make us a nice dinner." She looked down when Bao Yu squealed and tugged at her robes with his little teeth, and she chuckled.

"I assume we'll be having another uninvited, but just as welcomed dinner guest."

"Welcomed, indeed," Shen muttered, and his nanny was relieved to see his tenseness giving off to annoyance as he glared at the fat panda baby in her arms.

"Oh, Shen, you must admit, he's darling," the soothsayer chided gently, and she kissed little Bao Yu's nose.

"Yeah, _that's _the word," he mumbled, and his eyes went wide and flashed in jealousy when he caught the kiss, and little Bao Yu giving him a smug look. His Nana turned and he did too, snootily raising his head and walking on. Pff. So what – he didn't care if she chose to kiss that stupid drool ball.

His nanny smirked and she grabbed him; Shen yelped as he half fell against her chest and she was suddenly smothering the top of his beak and head with kisses for good measure.

"Ah – gross! You old goat, there's gotta be a line-! Hey – knock it off!" He tried to sound furious as he struggled, but the quickly muffled laughs weren't all that convincing.

The laughter drowned out and both he and the soothsayer straightened when they reached the palace doors. His nanny looked worriedly at him, and he tried to gently cup a lightly shaking wing over her hoof as they entered the doors. They were acting like the guest was the pronouncement of doom.

Well, he may as well be. The soothsayer had to gently squeeze her child's wing as a silent reminder to remain calm when he laid eyes on the despicable elk,

He was there, spreading out his stupid _stupid _cordial bottles filled to the brim with that disgusting gloppy medicine that Shen had been forced to ingest all his life. He wondered why that idiotic elk bothered to come around with all his useless medical liquids – they did nothing. Of course, he walked from the outskirts of the city, sporting the bag of supplies as he walked to the palace. (He was probably just using them for show, trying to convince the city he was actually doing something to improve the young prince's health – push him further away from an early grave.)

"Shen, greet the physician," his mother gently reminded.

"Hello, Doctor Ren," the peacock said coldly.

The stupid elk seemed as oblivious as always to his patient's bitterness and dislike for him, as he went about taking out a few more bottles. (Just how much of that stupid medications did he bring?)

"Hello, My Prince." He bowed; Shen wanted to crack his spine and keep him condemned to that position for the rest of his life. "It is lovely to see you – oh, you're doing well today it seems."

The eyes filled with more hatred, if possible. It seemed it was noticable now, fore Shen felt the twist on his train by his father, and noticed how the elk's eyes had lowered awkwardly.

"It's so - _nice_ to see you too," Shen strained out, which left one to wonder if he was talking to a royal physician or a cockroach – that was the _hardest _thing he'd ever had to say.

"Your parents called me up today; which was good – despite your weekly check ups, I needed to see them about something, and propose an idea to them." The elk trailed off, apprehensively glancing at the glaring prince and turning to his lord.

"Well, you see, son," Lord Jin began pleasantly, choosing his words carefully (one slip, and-), "Although your health has begun to climb over the years, we see there are still days when you're very sick-" he inwardly cringed under his son's venomous glare; "I mean, we're proud of how well you've come and how well you – you're doing generally-"

Shen didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"-the physician thinks it best if you maybe you stay with him for a while."

The entire palace seemed to have grown deathly silent. No sound of water running; no sound of servant's hooves walking; not even the birds chirping. It was as if every inhabitant had frozen in horror, processing the request. There was one sound: the soothsayer's soft sharply inhaled gasp.

Finally, Shen spoke; his eyes and his face held no expression.

"You're pawning me off...to the physician?"

"Oh dear gods, no!" his mother cried in horror, and she tried to fold a wing around him. He yanked back _so sharply _that the wing beginning to enfold him was nearly yanked from its socket.

"Oh gods," the soothsayer cried frantically; "oh gods - _oh gods-_" She had to get Shen out of there. What was his parents _thinking?_ - Did they ever think – no, they didn't, they never did – had they _lost their_-

"Son, you will only be in the city; the physician wants to try a few things with you, see if he can improve your health, and quantity of your life." So he did still believe Shen was going to die. "And you'll be able to come see us whenever. We only want you monitored closely under the physician's eye; you need to be ready and in the physical condition to take over the throne soon when it is passed to you."

"Yes"; the physician spoke now, he tore out a scroll – what was Shen's medical records. "I think I want to get started on your lungs; you know, I have some marvelous herbs picked right from-"

They gasped when Shen suddenly tore through the scroll with a now sheathed blade. His parents cried out in horror and shock as their son didn't stop there, and suddenly the glass bottles exploded like a spectrum of colored grenades as the small blade vertically tore through every one of them with astounding strength. The table was flipped next, and the elk was now cowardly balled in the corner, ducking the bottles that smashed against walls and floors.

Shen was panting; he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, and all he saw was red – all he felt was rage beyond his brain's capacity, betrayal, hurt. He needed to – needed to – he eyed the elk and the red dotting his vision became a crimson blood color; he raised the knife higher, and-

-and something struck his face hard – a wing – (Lord Jin hadn't meant to hit that hard – he was just trying to snap him out of it), and Shen was on the ground, laying there as the burning pain stung his cheek, but he didn't seem to feel it.

"Shen-" his father began.

And Shen was gone, on his feet and moving faster than anyone thought possible, tearing down the hall.

"Darling-" The soothsayer managed to catch him for a brief moment, and tried to lovingly hold him to her, but he pushed out roughly, yet silently, continuing down the hall until he was at the door, in his Nana and his quarters, and in his room with the slam of a door so loud that it rocked every painting on the wall, as did every chair; every table, every object, and everyone.

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The soothsayer had long since given up trying to coax her child from his bedroom. It was clocking in on ten hours since he ran into his room, and ten hours since he had eaten. Not a sound came from behind the rice paper walls, and every tray of food pushed under the door was neither eaten or pushed back. (She could see the mound growing from under the door cracks.)

"Darling, please," the old goat whispered softly. "You have to at least eat a little bit. I won't make you come out or talk to me, but starving yourself like this is not going to help you; you'll just get sick ag-" Maybe those weren't the right words right now.

Yet, she half wished that he'd snarl at her for them, or make any indication that he was _alive_, but nothing happened. Tears in her eyes, she silently collected the bowl of rice and moved away from the door-

-almost directly into Lord Jin.

The goat said nothing to him; she looked colder than the emperor had ever seen her, and she wasn't hiding it for the sake of respect all that well. She probably didn't even care about that right now. (He had just slapped her baby, what mother in their right mind would be thinking of subordinates right now?)

"I..I wish to speak with my son."

"With all due respect, my Lord," the soothsayer forced out as respectfully as she could. "Shen does not wish to see you right now and I will _not_ force him to do so."

"I am not asking you to," Lord Jin said calmly; "I..I'll speak through the door if I have to; I just have to talk to him."

The soothsayer didn't respond, but calmly pulled away after several minutes, giving her Lord access to Shen's door.

Lord Jin swallowed hard, he had no idea how to approach this, where to start. He knew he was not welcomed here: he could feel the coldness radiating off the soothsayer, her unspoken hisses of 'get out and leave him be', and – he didn't even want to imagine what Shen was keeping in.

"Son?" be began softly.

There was no response from behind that door.

"Shen, I'm sorry; I'm so sorry for slapping you, and I know it was not called for. I didn't mean it, I was just-"

Through her Lord's remorseful rambling and repeated apologies, the soothsayer inwardly burned with rage and disbelief. Did he really – did he really think that was it? Was her Lord and Lady _really _that decisively naive? Well of course they were; when did they ever spend enough time with their young son to know his true feelings, what hurt him the most?

The futile and empty apology went on for the next ten minutes, and the soothsayer knew her child was at his limit, even though she couldn't see, she felt it (also something her seeing skills were exceptionally well at and it was a mother's intuition too.) She could almost hear him sobbing and pleading with her,

_make him go away! M-make my mean father LEAVE!_

That was enough for the soothsayer; she turned to her lord. He blinked and looked over at her, crown feathers dropping at the icy unforgiving look on her face.

"My Lord, please leave," the goat said respectfully, but firmly.

He knew he had to go; he was hurting his son more and more every moment he stayed. He wasn't welcomed here: the accusing subtle glares shot by his advisor and the surely hateful looks that were being directed from his son beyond that sliding door was getting to be a bit more than his frazzled nerves could handle right now. But he had to know something.

"Min Yun, you know I'd never hurt him, right?"

If it was possible, the soothsayer's eyes grew harder and even colder. She didn't respond.

Lord Jin turned and silently left, not returning again that day.

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Xun was next to visit; he'd obviously not have heard about the day's events, since he seemed to be in a rather good mood. He came in on all fours – what a surprise. (The soothsayer always had to smirk at that; when the boys were younger, baths had to be constant because Xun always insisted on using all paws...and both children loved the mud.)

The elderly goat stayed at the table and didn't bother getting up to greet him. She looked lost and distraught, and Xun's grin faded the moment he saw her.

"Whoa, who died?" He attempted to crack a joke; the soothsayer was used to his bad jokes and wry remarks and a few made her smile – especially if it was directed to Shen, but not today... What was left of the pathetic smile fell and his eyes widened when he immediately noted she had been crying.

"Na?"

'Na' – it was usually archaic, but the soothsayer _had_ half raised that fluff ball from an adorable rambunctious pup to now. She always told the pup that he could call her Nana too, and she knew he wanted to; his parents didn't show all that much caring for him, but he still felt uncomfortable. He settled with 'Na', that made him happy. As he got older, both him and Shen grew more and more uncomfortable with calling their surrogate mother by her usual address, though neither seemed to mind it in the most extreme circumstances – like now.

"Sit down, dear," the soothsayer said without a tone to her voice. Xun obeyed.

"Where's our little white birdy?" the wolf asked in a teasing tone; "is he sleeping again? Bet he is – or maybe that insufferable panda baby has him trapped somewhere."

Again, the goat was silent and even more sober.

"Na?"

"His parents sent him to his room – figuratively, I mean, he didn't-"

"No, I get it." The wolf stood up; he grabbed a pawful of sago tarts for good measure and knocked at the locked door, expecting a response. Though he wasn't too discouraged when he didn't get it: again, usual behavior.

"Hey, bird-brain, get out here! I've been looking for someone to spar with – I've only had that dumb panda the past ten hours, and uh-" he blushed, "well, he actually keeps winning." He pictured Shen was grinning, even though he wasn't, and he continued. "It isn't my fault, that brat is FAT and HEAVY."

Still no response, and the soothsayer didn't bother telling him to stop, since she knew it'd do no good at this point.

The wolf sighed a bit and rested against the sliding door. He looked down at Shen's favorite food and smirked, making a big show as he loudly smacked his lips and eyed the sago tarts with greed.

"Hey, Shen, better get out here – I'm about to wolf down all your precious desserts!" He paused, then snickered. "No pun intended."

Silence.

Finally, the wolf's paws fell to his sides, a hurt look on his face; it stung the soothsayer to see the pup she half raised so upset.

"Damn it," Xun finally softly cursed. "What did those stupid parents of his do anyways?"

"Xun," the goat softly reprimanded from behind her teacup. "You know that is not-"

"Oh, don't give me that, soothsayer!" the pup snapped. "You know you feel the same way; you can't hide that from me. You're as easy to see through as we apparently all are."

The goat pursed her lips and set down the cup, peering at the unhappy wolf.

"You'll find that our Lord and Lady are good people, of course, who – act – long before their brains do."

"Freakin' understatement of the century," Xun muttered. "I wish he'd talk to me at least, he usually always does."

"He was hurt today," the soothsayer said simply; "far beyond the will to properly speak right now."

"What did they do?" Xun whispered.

The soothsayer just lowered her head and drank her tea without a word.

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It was evening now; Shen had been in his room for twelve hours, and still not a sound was heard. The apartment was dark and dreary; it matched the moods of the inhabitants. There was still no sound or movement from Shen's door, and the place was empty, but that was fine to Bao Yu.

He liked the dark for some reason, even though it was apparently weird according to Mama and Baba. He'd seen other panda babies whimper in distress when the sun went down, but he liked the dark; it was always cooler, and he loved the little specks of light that sparkled in the sky. 'Stars', his parents told him they were called.

The cub crawled over the cool tile floor, squealing out at the new cooler sensation under his paws and legs. He came up to a huge door; he liked those: someone he loved was usually on the other side of it. And he had seen Shen and the soothsayer enter this little house, maybe they were here.

Bao Yu babbled and pawed at the door, calling out in his little baby gibberish to the peacock he was sure was on the other side. He scratched at the door with still developing nails, and watched them make scratches in the sliding wood, but nothing else happened. Undaunted, he moved to the walls, leaning on them a bit – and promptly tumbled onto his back on the other side.

The cub blinked when he realized he was somehow free, and he grinned, turning back onto his belly and starting to crawl. His eye caught the small mountain of food from the meals that had gathered, and he drooled and crawled towards it. Then, he saw the marvelously long train flowing over a makeshift nest full of sticks and hay and he squealed to get the bird's attention.

But Shen didn't even look up from where he was laying belly down over the bed. The cub still wasn't discouraged, climbing into the stick like bed with ease. Immediately, he was squealing and rubbing against it like all infants are apt to do when they encounter a new sensation. He focused quickly back on Shen and climbed up onto the peacock's back, pushing against his back with his paws.

"Aba?"

Shen didn't stir, and the cub was mildly disappointed, but hardly discouraged. He crawled up more and started tugging at Shen's sash with his teeth and a playful growl, waiting for the lord to whirl around and snap at him. But he didn't.

The cub was growing more and more frustrated – he didn't know what else to do, he had done it all. His jade eyes lit up a bit and he smiled. Well, almost all of it. He crawled to the very bottom of Shen's robes and wriggled up into it; he was pressed pretty tightly against the peacock's side since he was on his stomach, and his fur rubbed against Shen's usually sensitive skin, but he made no movement or sound.

Bao Yu wouldn't give up; he gnawed lightly at the side of Shen's belly, and though the lord was finally fidgeting a bit...there was still virtually no reaction from him. Bao Yu whined in distress, underneath Shen's wing and peering out of his sleeve. His tears stained Shen's fabric.

It seemed the young lord finally sensed there was no getting rid of the impervious cub, as a wing hastily went in his sleeve and dragged the panda out by a paw, where he laid the startled baby in front of his face.

"Eeegh!" Bao Yu babbled, flinging his flabby arms around Shen's beak and nuzzling it lovingly.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that much," Shen finally said, speaking for the first time in exactly half a day. "I heard you out there, brat, and I wasn't going to open my door.." He barely lifted his heavy head to look at the giant hole in his wall. "But I didn't expect you to go through my wall." He inwardly cursed the complication of having to now replace that old wall – but that vanished fast, given the current situation. His head flopped back down again.

"Ouu?" The cub's soft babble sounded concerned, he even added a stroke of Shen's crown for effect.

"What do you care?" Shen snapped, translating the baby's cooing to an asking of what was wrong. "You're a baby – you just eat and poop and eat...and eat again...and again! Go...go – eat – and just..just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He really was losing his mind, and he couldn't see well. This screaming and rage and emotional trauma wasn't good for his medical condition. A small side effect he had to put up with when he got upset. And now – and now he was screaming in a deranged voice to a panda baby.

He shook, feeling the immediate onset of tears; no, no, he wouldn't cry. He didn't cry anymore. He hadn't cried since he was a chick – not since he was twelve. He remembered it clearly: bullied and picked on, running back, beaten up and bruised and a bit bloodied – to Nana, where she held him as he bawled. The bullies had been terrible, snickering at his ugly weak white stature and taunting him, taunting him as he cried. He told her that he wasn't going to ever cry again, and he dashed away from the bitterly stunned old goat.

He intended to stick to that regiment he set. He wouldn't cry, no. Who cared what his parents thought – so what if they wanted to pawn him off to the physician. Who cared – he didn't, didn't at all. He didn't need anyone, and he didn't need his parents' love; they were never there for him when he was little – why should this be any different!

The peacock only laid there; Bao Yu slid down the pillow, right under Shen's neck, his head curling under the peacock's beak as he balled himself comfortingly into his soft warm feathers and cried since Shen wouldn't do so himself.

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_Mmm, so I was writing between "Misadventures" and "Redeeming Light" tonight, and this finished before the other one did. "Redeeming Light" is coming along well. but this ia a long and very painful (meaning sad) chapter, that I'm taking my time on._

_Not much to say other than credit goes to my new friendDomenic- writer of the famous "Life And Times Of Lord Shen"_


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